Money,morality – Life,death

Consultant paediatrician and member of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee, Dr Kevin Connolly has criticised the delay in recommending whether the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil should be provided under a National Immunisation programme.

The report (5th item) claims that the vaccine coupled with a screening programme could eradicate the disease within a generation.

You would imagine that there could be no objection to such a programme but as always the twin evils of social class and moral righteousness raise their ugly heads.

For those with the money our two tier health system will see their children safe from this deadly disease for a mere €600. Those who cannot afford the vaccine must wait until the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) completes its cost-benefit analysis.

Already the mad mullahs in American and the UK have objected to the vaccine on the grounds that it might promote promiscuity among young girls. No doubt our own home grown religious mullahs are champing at the bit.

What these religious dinosaurs are essentially saying is;

We have no objection to rich people protecting themselves (because we are powerless to stop them) but we are prepared to risk the lives of less well off young women, by putting pressure on governments, in order to protect our moral sensitivities.